The Associated PressHe looks good, but he's on his way to a loss to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga at the Australian Open.At the Australian Open, Novak Djokovic wilted in a five-set match for, as Roger Federer might put it, the 150,000th time. Watching the collapse, tennis writer Steve Tignor speculated that the Serb had gone "soft" or maybe become "too jumpy, vulnerable to nerves."

But the thing is, nothing's actually changed with the Djoker -- except observers' expectations. Back in 2007-08, it was fashionable to conclude that Djokovic was the Next Big Thing in tennis. Like Harvey Keitel in "Pulp Fiction," he got the job done with an impressive combination of brusque professionalism and elusive-itch charm. The problem was, like Keitel, he was just giving a performance.

All the big boys had to do was call his bluff, and once they figured that out, the 2008 Australian Open champ started crashing out of majors in the quarters and semis. It's now been more than two years since he sniffed a Grand Slam final.

That's not going to change in 2010, even though the newly released rankings just bumped Djokovic up to number two in the world. Nole still hits as clean a shot as you could ever want. His technique is perfect. But of course tennis isn't just about the strokes. It's about dedication and inspiration. For Djokovic, both remain suspect. When it comes to inspiration: His game is solid, but there are no surprises in it, ever. Last year in the Rome final, he played his best match of the year, dueling from the baseline with Rafael Nadal for two thrilling hours. But in the end, Rafa won in straight sets -- because, on clay, you don't beat Nadal by only trying to out-do him at what he does best.

Dedication is an even bigger problem. Post-2008 breakthrough, the 22-year-old Serbian has embraced the celebrity side of the tennis life. Will he be starring in a 10-part TV miniseries that starts filming in March? Will he strap on nipple tassels again for more commercials (watch below)? His official website states that, Liberace-like, "He is writing the history of Serbian tennis in gold letters."

Djokovic loves life, and there's nothing wrong with that. You can enjoy the world's bounty and still be a great tennis player. With Vitas Gerulaitis leading the way, Bjorn Borg spent some time in Funky Town while he was still winning Wimbledon trophies in the '70s. But Borg knew how to compartmentalize his life. This is work, and this is play. Djokovic hasn't shown an ability to do that yet. Tennis is still play to him. He has often treated winning a match as nothing more than an excuse for giving his imaginary wing man a show. The shirt comes off, the biceps pump, the hips do the locomotive -- and he grins like Errol Flynn as the girls go wild.

Djokovic had a great fall in 2009. He won in Beijing, Basel and Paris, ousting Federer and Nadal along the way. At the year-end ATP World Tour Finals, where he was the defending champion, he beat a streaking Nikolay Davydenko and again topped Nadal. (A surprise loss to Robin Soderling ended his season.)

The magnificent autumn gave Nolo fans hope that he'd once again hold aloft the trophy in Melbourne, but clearer eyes saw the late-season run for what it was. It's not a surprise that Djokovic's best results come in the fall, after the Slams are over and everyone's starting to relax. As you'll recall, that was Marat Safin's time to shine, too.